7MGE Resurrection

[Krem]

Hey all, long time no see... longer time no drive :\

My mk3 died last April while on the way home from work when my exhaust leak blowing on my non-flowing heater hose cracked a hole in a flush and fill T and sprayed water over my headers. Since, the car has ran rough and not moved (except for tow to mechanics and back). Car will push maybe 600~800 RPM with the pedal floored, and idles just above stalling at ~300 rpm (will stall after coming down from load on throttle).

So yea, mechanic confirmed my suspicions that the engine needs lots of attention. The mk3 I got had a recently rebuilt auto tranny ~4k miles before I bought it and I don't have a lot of money to do turbo swap yet. So I was thinking of a) 7mge swap, hoping everything (with exception to oil pan) matches up and presents little issue during install.. or b) get a rebuild kit and get to work.

Engine would be a JDM type engine, I'm guessing this requires some additional work with ECU and/or wire harness? but mounts and fittings should line up?

And the stuff I'm looking at for rebuild are the following:
Rebuild Kit
Head Assembly

Now the head assembly may not be necessary, but my engine has 154k miles and I'd like to be sure my valves (and springs mainly) are good. In addition, want peace of mind w/ my cams as the right cam snapped my distributor shaft last year and could actually be a major contributor to my overheating and timing issues the car seems to have (had).


If this was your mk3, and limited budget, which would be most effecient $$$:Time? And as far as rebuild option, is there anything else to get as well?

Thanks, in advance, for the advice..